Thursday, August 28, 2008

Coulee's favorite game is fetch. When she was younger, I don't think she ever would have stopped if we didn't stop. Now that she is almost 4, she will eventually tire out but it still takes a long time!

I'm not ashamed to admit it. I stalked the mailman today. Our new camera was going to be delivered to our house today (or at least I hoped it would be today). So around 11:30 I ran home, in hopes it would be there. As I was pulling up to our mail box, the mail man was pulling away! I quickly checked the box and sure enough there was a parcel receipt in there. I hopped in the van and raced after him. Luckily he had to stop at the next mail box. I jumped out of the van waving my parcel reciept and he informed me the "other guy" had it and pointed down the street. So I got back in the van and drove to the next mail box. This mail man told me he didn't have it but the postal outlet should. My reciept said I couldn't pick it up until 5 p.m. (and really, who wants to wait until 5 p.m.?!) but he assured me it was already there. He was right!

So far so good. It is fast at taking pictures, focusing and I've already discovered some great features our old one didn't have!

I just looked for a picture to attach to the post and realized I haven't taken any good ones of my own dogs yet! So instead, I leave you with Bosley, who came to have his ears "fixed". You'll have to read Kim's blog to find out more... that is, if she posts about it!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

I actually ordered one yesterday but found out today they were out of stock of the Canon XT so I ordered a Canon Rebel XTi instead. They were both on sale for $100 off and I just couldn't resist. Worst case scenario, I'll have 2 cameras - one for home, one for work. Best case scenario, I'll have 2 cameras - one for home, one for work. :) Actually, if I can sell the old one, assuming it is in working condition when I get it back, I probably will.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

I miss my camera. A lot. And I just shipped it off yesterday. I have zero patience. I want to know if it is fixable, if they'll fix it for free (third time I've had issues in less than a year) and if not, I want to get out shopping just so I can have a camera again!

I've taken the last 2 days off work - thanks Sandy! - and am constantly wishing I had my camera. Yesterday I went and visited a friend and her little boy in Medicine Hat. I mean who doesn't want to take pictures of a cute little boy splashing through the water and racing around? We went out to Echodale Park which has a petting zoo of sorts with sheep, rabbits, pigs and horses. The piglets were adorable. And there I was without my camera!

Today the girls and I went out to Popson to have some fun in the water. Coulee hadn't played fetch "in public" in probably around a year. Prior to opening the daycare, she was getting really bad at being around other dogs and toys. She was even starting to snark at dogs in the parking lot when there weren't any toys around so we've been avoiding Popson as that is where she associates with fetch. Today though, I figured to give it a try. Much to my delight, there was no one there! Coulee had sooo much fun racing through the water. Lacey did her best to keep up but she wasn't really sure what the game was. She was chasing Coulee, who was chasing the toy. I tried to throw the toy a few times for Lacey but she just ran at Coulee instead. ;) They were pretty cute out there. And again, I was without my camera.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Marlin, the girls and I met my dad and his wife Shelley in the Crowsnest Pass today for a hike. We did Ptolemy Pass - a 12 km (return) hike along an old road. We were the only people out there hiking but we did see a few ATVs and dirt bikes. They sure make a mess of the trail! There were some sections with mud puddles that we would just skirt but once the ATV's went through all the vegetation on the sides was coated in muddy water so we got quite dirty.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

I took the girls out last night with Deirdre and her two girls, to Peenaquim Park. We had a great walk. The girls were well behaved (except when Coulee barked at the people who were there that were afraid of dogs. People, don't come to an off leash dog park if you are afraid of dogs!!!). We saw a couple of beavers swimming in the river, the girls ran, and ran and even swam a bit. Lacey had fun trying to eat the bubbles in the water. (I don't want to think too much about what the bubbles were when we are downstream of the wastewater treatment plant.)

We were finally heading back when we heard barking in the bushes. We were a little confused - there was no path where the dog was barking, and there was no owner trying to call the dog or get him to stop barking. My next thought was that it was a stray dog but we decided to get moving as it didn't sound too friendly. We could tell the barking dog kept following us because the barks weren't getting any further away. And then we got a glimpse of him - he was a Coyote not a dog. Uh Oh. I had one leash and 3 dogs (Coulee, Lacey and Tundra, Marja's dog who was spending the night). Do I leash the littlest one who is most likely to get seriously hurt in a fight? Do I leash the one with the best recall but who is most likely to run up and bark at it. Or do I leash my friend's dog because I'm not sure what she'll do?

I debated between Coulee and Tundra but I ended up leashing Coulee for two reasons. 1) She was closest and 2) Tundra was quickly and steadily leading us down the path away from the Coyote, where as Coulee was barking and facing the coyote. Tundra was GREAT!!! I was so proud of her. She has been known to chase deer until she is out of sight but last night she wanted nothing to do with the wildlife. Once Coulee was on a leash she just strained after Tundra and Lacey just stayed with the rest of us. Deirdre's two dogs were also great - they stayed with us the whole time the coyote followed us - for about 10 minutes. We couldn't believe how far he insisted on driving us out. Once he stopped following, he kept barking at us until we reached the vehicles - another 10 minutes away.

I of course didn't have my camera. The coyote might have been grumpy, but he was sure pretty.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Typical Lacey, just hanging out while everyone else runs around. She wouldn't want to waste too much energy.

Sam is just as insatiable as Coulee when it comes to playing fetch.Boone was so happy whenever he managed to get the toy, probably because that wasn't very often.Coulee again testing out the theory of the more you open your mouth, the more likely you are to catch.

Boone decided to check out the area under the deck...

Sam is never far away. In fact he usually has some part of his body touching, if not on top of you.

Monday, August 4, 2008

So Amanda and Sarah are at Agility Nationals this week in New Brunswick and I'm looking after some of Amanda's dogs - Sam and Boone will be with me until next Tuesday, but Vito is just here for the night and is going to Sandy's tomorrow night. We were a little unsure how Boone would do at our place so he came over one afternoon for "coffee" and Amanda stayed at our house last weekend when we went to Cranbrook with all her dogs (and ours). And it worked. Boone is doing great! He and Lacey played outside and he isn't even doing his usual "nesting" (finding something to hide under or in), he is laying down right in the open. He has spent some time under the bench in the livingroom but most of his time is spent out with the rest of us. He doesn't seem to like the basement much though so as I type this, I just have Vito, Sam and Coulee at my feet.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Jolene and I went to the Birds of Prey Centre this weekend. It was a lot of fun. She held a great horned owl and posed with a bald eagle. I was the "official" photographer. I decided to leave my zoom lens at home - what was I thinking? Good thing digital pictures can be cropped!

Aren't burrowing owls adorable??

I love the colour of the great horned owl's eyesJolene was the only person who actually smiled next to the eagle. We had lots of fun laughing at all the kids. They were so nervous, their shoulders were up around their ears and one poor kid was horrified that the eagle drooled into his hair.Even though we were surrounded by all these incredibly powerful birds, I think this picture of the geese is one of my favorites from the day! They came running when they saw us. I think they thought we must have food for them.

So my only complaint about our new Mac is that it doesn't come with a card reader. Downloading photos off the camera was really, really slow. I had to walk away and do something else, it was that slow. So we went out and bought a card reader today. So of course I had to test it out. It is better, but still not as good as the PC at work. Weird that Mac's which are supposed to be so good with the creative side of things, would have such a lousy system to download photos... unless I'm doing something wrong.

Crazy - aka Coulee

Coulee is a 9 year old border collie / golden retriever. She's got the looks of a retriever but inside she is all border collie. She is smart, fast and agile. It is always fun on a walk when she is around.

Little - AKA Lacey

I think Lacey is the cutest dog EVER. She is a 6 year old pug/cattle dog cross. She is cuddly and sweet, playful and independant. Too bad she has that cattle dog bark...otherwise she'd be perfect.